It's been yet another hiatus for me between Thanksgiving, finals, and winter break. So, I figured I'd tackle an end of quarter recap. The best way for me to try and do that is to address the questions friends and family ask me most: “How was your first quarter? Did you have fun?” Deep down, I know it was a great time and a hell of a ride, but I really have to think about it to make sure. That’s because school can be overwhelming at times. Five classes that you’re somewhat unfamiliar with over the course of ten weeks makes for an intense quarter. It consumes you to some extent. It’s all you and your friends talk about. For instance, I consider myself a student of comedy. I interned at Late Night and The Daily Show in college. I like to think I know what’s funny. At one point, though, I’m fairly certain the only jokes I, along with my fellow students, was cracking were statistics related. Is p-value really that funny? After some decompressing time, I’m pretty sure it’s not, but at the time…HILARIOUS! And if we’re making class related jokes, that means we’ve learned something, right? I’m going to say yes. Definitely, yes.
But such feelings appear to be the norm at Anderson. It’s really the nature of the beast. We start classes later than most programs and there’s a lot of material to pack into such a short period of time, especially since we’re on the quarter system. It’s basically like a rite of passage. The second years assure you that you’ll get through it, you doubt them, you take four grueling finals in four days, and then realize they were right and don’t understand why you didn’t trust them in the first place. I have no doubt some first year will question my wisdom next year and I’ll just smile and crack a p-value joke and he or she will laugh uproariously.
Admittedly, I just painted a somewhat bleak picture. So, how can I say business school has been enjoyable? Well, that’s because while I may have underestimated just how time consuming the program would be, all the rumors about the social and networking opportunities I heard so much about are most definitely true. For all the work we do, there’s always a chance to blow off steam afterwards, be it a karaoke night with your section, the school ski trip to Breckenridge after finals, or a winter break jaunt to Israel. And over the course of these experiences, I really can’t fathom the number of friends I’ve made. When I left New York for my Los Angeles to begin this new quarter, two of my classmates offered to pick me up from the airport. I didn’t even ask. Do people really just offer to do that out of the goodness of their heart? Am I that fun to be in a car with? Maybe I’ve been living in New York too long (plus no one has a car here), but that’s a first and second for me. I kept an attentive eye on my wallet just in case.
In the meantime, things are not going to slow down one bit. After taking five classes in a quarter, we are only required to take three in the winter. Those courses are Marketing Management II, Corporate Finance, and Operations Technology Management. In addition, I’m taking an elective Feature Film Marketing class at UCLA’s Producer’s Program, and I also scored an MBA Spring Internship at Fox Filmed Entertainment. Needless to say, I’m expecting to be frantic and frazzled for the next couple of months, but when it’s all said and done, and you ask me how it was, I have no doubt I’ll pause, take a deep breath, and say, “Fantastic.” See you after my next hiatus
